Things to Do in Calumet City

As horses frolic in the open air and nuzzle each other in the fields, Denise Berry-Hanna draws upon master-trainer certification from the Certified Horsemanship Association to oversee a skilled team of instructors. Pupils of all ages learn about English–style riding with an emphasis on safety. Students ride year-round in an indoor arena or on an outdoor riding arena with sand and limestone footing. Trainers focus on English–style riding; the farm also has a large dressage arena, a cross-country field, and a stadium jumping area for advanced riders. A summer camp for kids aged 6–15 gives youngsters a warm-weather activity other than taking No Running signs to the Supreme Court, and horses board at the farm in warm, hay-filled stalls or on the rolling meadows.

Jump!Zone’s indoor playgrounds envelop kids aged 2–12 in an inflatable world filled with challenging obstacle courses, fun slides, and cardio-boosting bounce houses. While navigating the plush courses under the watchful eyes of air-filled dinosaurs and superheroes, kids burn off extra energy and participate in activities that may help develop motor skills. Jump!Zone’s energetic staff supervises all play as kids climb on pirate ships and trampoline inside princess castles. Specific inflatables may vary by location but often include towering bounce houses shaped like fire trucks or octopi as well as party rooms, games, pizza, soda, and other festive fare. The bouncy center also hosts birthday parties, fundraisers, and special events.

Lincoln Oaks Golf Course challenges long- and short-gamers who navigate its 6,186 yards of bentgrass fairways and relatively small greens. Built in 1927, Lincoln Oaks stood as one of four original courses at the Lincolnshire Country Club, resplendent with a layout designed by renowned course architect Tom Bendelow, who also lent his fairway-carving skills to all three courses at Medinah Country Club and his own immaculate backyard. Since then, it has gone public and undergone extensive renovations, including new cart paths and reshaped tees and fairways. The site of a PGA Tour event in the 1960s, the course has hosted U.S. Open Qualifying Tournaments throughout the years as well as multiple golf cart drag races. Before taking to the links, clubbers can spruce up swing mechanics at Lincoln Oaks' range and practice facility.

Located approximately 35 minutes from downtown, Lincoln Oaks is a convenient cruise away from the urban bustle. Upon completing their round, duffers can kick back in the comfort of Oaks Bar and Grill, where icy beverages, piping-hot pub fare, and three flat-screen televisions caddy your cravings for post-putting leisure time without badgering you about your botched lay-up.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by Tom Bendelow
• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Length of 6,186 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 69.0 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 120 from the farthest tees
• Three tee options
• Link to scorecard

The Meadows Golf Club of Blue Island's 18-hole course winds over a 6,581 layout that showcases the inventive mind of course architect J. Porter Gibson. From the double doglegs on holes 10 and 15 to the back-to-back forced carries over water hazards golfers must face on 13 and 14, the layout enchants and challenges golfers without forcing them to read the Petrarchan sonnets a lonely flagstick wrote for a comely sand trap. Golfers can prepare for rounds at the club's on-site driving range and enhance their bag of trick sticks at the golf shop with gear from top golf brands such as Titleist, FootJoy, and Cleveland.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-71 layout
• Length of 6,581 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 71.3 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 121 from the farthest tees
• Three tee options
• Scorecard

During the Gary SouthShore RailCats' inaugural season in 2002, the players spent an estimated 200 hours on buses—traveling approximately 12,000 miles without their own ballpark to call home. Indeed, the diamond at U.S. Steel Yard was still under construction, forcing the team to play its entire first season on the road. But while the trip could have been a rocky way for an organization to start out, it instead forecasted a wild ride ahead in which the RailCats never stopped moving. After just four years, the RailCats captured their first Northern League title, marking the first of five straight appearances in the championship series—a Northern League record.

Despite that first year away from home, the RailCats seem to have settled in well at U.S. Steel Yard. Within the park, views of the South Shore commuter train remind fans of the team's origins, and a 55-foot scoreboard towers over left-centerfield in much the same way early pitchers once towered over batters from atop a stack of milk crates.

Youngsters clamor over air-filled merry-go-rounds, obstacle courses, and slides inside FunFlatables' indoor play arenas. Dyer's 12,00-square-foot facility houses giant aquariums, pirate ships, and 19-foot slides, while Merrillville's 9,000-square-foot playground sends kiddies whirling around on a bouncy carousel like the first cowboys before the discovery of real horses. Each bounce facility keeps toddlers from getting underfoot in dedicated Totland play spaces, complete with musical toys, miniature slides, and foam-covered floors. Outdoor-inflatable rentals bring the jump sessions to birthdays, block parties, fairs, and parole hearings.